Viofo A139 Pro - 1|2|3 Channel 4K STARVIS-2 HDR + FHD dashcam

[Julian23]

Not sure, but if there is a small delay, it will have been worth it - I heard that they have been upgraded slightly before shipping.

Do you happen to know what has been changed?

 

[TonyM]

I heard that they have been upgraded slightly before shipping.

I hope there's no shiny bling ring around the lens!

 

[Nigel]

I hope there's no shiny bling ring around the lens!

You will have to wait and see

 

[VIOFO-Support]

Hi,

No worries, all presale orders will be sent out tomorrow, no worries.

 

[Nigel]

Do you happen to know what has been changed?

I think it falls under the category of continuous improvements, image quality will be improved a little, you don't need to know exactly what was changed.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Not sure, but if there is a small delay, it will have been worth it - I heard that they have been upgraded slightly before shipping.

I just received my tracking number for the A139 Pro 3-Ch for test & review via email.
So excited, can't wait. lol
Based on previous shipping times from Hong Kong to California it should arrive in my mailbox on, or before December 1.
-Chuck

 

[booneep]

@Nigel

Can you, please, compare A139 Pro with Blackvue DR900X Plus (OS08A10 sensor)?
Very interesting.

 

[kamkar]

I dont think Nigel have that Blackvue camera, @Vortex Radar might be able to do that.

 

[Nigel]

@Nigel

Can you, please, compare A139 Pro with Blackvue DR900X Plus (OS08A10 sensor)?
Very interesting.

As Kamkar said, I don't have a DR900X, but since the DR900X is beaten on image quality by the A129 Pro, and I do have one of those, and the A139 Pro is significantly better than that, I am quite confident that the A139 Pro is a big step up on the DR900X, as far as image quality goes. It does not have cloud connectivity though, other than what is provided via the app, which currently is none.

I'm not sure that the OS08A10 sensor is really at fault on the Blackvue, the main issue appears to be low bitrate, and a not particularly good codec. When using the A139 Pro with 3 channels, maximum bitrate is about 30Mb/s, while I think the DR900X is about 25Mb/s maximum, but the codec on is doing an excellent job, so the difference is significantly more than would be expected from a 20% bitrate increase. With only 1, or 2 channels, the A139 Pro will give more bitrate, which is definitely useful under trees.

I'm not aware of the DR900X having multi-exposure HDR, which is another big advantage to the A139 Pro. Hopefully we will get some videos/framegrabs showing that in action soon, but the current firmware seems to have some issues with the anti-flicker (flickering LED stop lights/traffic lights) and there are a few other HDR issues, as Vortex Radar posted above, so I'm not sure exactly how good that is yet. Definitely worth having though.

Someone else will have to do a proper comparison, but since the DR900 is (was?) one of Vortex Radar's favorite dashcams, I'm sure he will have some comments before long when he makes his Youtube review...

 

[kamkar]

That mentioned OV sensor are a 2x2 micron pixel sensor, so in theory it should match a starvis 2 sensor with the same specs

 

[Nigel]

That mentioned OV sensor are a 2x2 micron pixel sensor, so in theory it should match a starvis 2 sensor with the same specs

The OV sensors often seem to be a size bigger to match the performance of the smaller Sony sensors, but they cost about the same, so they seem good, until you work out that the bigger lens needed is going to cost significantly more! Maybe one reason why the DR900 costs twice the A139 Pro?

I think Sony has an advantage on the noise level, so you can turn up the ISO more and get less motion blur.

 

[Mtz]

1. HDR Image Sensors.

All image sensors have different dynamic ranges, generally the larger the pixels the larger the dynamic range, so for dashcams, where we want a large dynamic range, big sensors are good. In addition Starvis-1 brought a decent increase in dynamic range of the sensor, and Starvis 2 has brought another 2.5x increase.

The Sony IMX678 Starvis-2 1/1.8" image sensor used in the A139 Pro has 2.5x the dynamic range of the standard A139 without using any multi-exposure tricks, so it can be considered a High Dynamic Range sensor, and it can also do multi-exposure HDR to extend the dynamic range further.

Here is one example of Viofo and Sony Starvis 2 result at a total speed of 180 km/h. The GIF image is zoomed at 500%. In that night there was a some november fog. You know for sure which is the HDR part of the GIF:


I am sure no dashcam in the world can obtain this in this moment and, again, this is the most revolutionary step in dashcam footage because almost half of day the car license plate were not readable.
The above images are produced with beta firmwares.
The HDR On file had CPL mounted.
Max. bitrates for both dashcams (about 60mbps in 1CH mode).
This result is obtained only if the incoming car is near the dashcam car. From my short experience regarding this, if both dashcams will be separated by 1 or 2 lanes, the visibility of license number is reduced by 50% and 75%. The speed must be reduced at the same percent.

 

[rcg530]

Here's a couple of quick screen grabs from this morning's shopping trip route. The DR900X Plus front camera is mounted in a sub-optimal location due to the fact I have six dash cameras on my front windshield. In the screenshot from the BlackVue DR900X Plus, you can see the A139 Pro front camera in the lower right corner.

BlackVue DR900X Plus 3840x2160 29.97fps - FW v1.009 - CPL Installed


VIOFO A139 Pro 4K 3840x2160 24fps - FW v1.0_1115 - HDR On - CPL Installed

 

[Mtz]

Do you have the original snapshot taken at 3840x2160 and saved as PNG? I am using Alt + i in MPC-BE player to obtain original snapshots from the video. Your pictures seems to be some screenshot and the resolution is just 1081x608.

 

[rcg530]

Do you have the original snapshot taken at 3840x2160 and saved as PNG? I am using Alt + i in MPC-BE player to obtain original snapshots from the video. Your pictures seems to be some screenshot and the resolution is just 1081x608.

If I try to upload a full screenshot to DCT it objects to the file size being too large, so I have to scale it down to fit within the limits of the DCT website software.

I just created full size screenshots of the two video frames and uploaded them to a Google drive folder. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LjUaBb0Nux21LCHZezq9FEI6fE9QZMEm?usp=share_link

 

[booneep]

@rcg530

thank you very much.
IMHO, I don't see differences
Looks like "dr900x plus" is little bit overexposed ("for lease" sign at right is white and not visible), but, on the other hand, texture of the tree at left is better visible.

Can you please upload evening and night photos?

 

[rcg530]

Can you please upload evening and night photos?

I was planning on going out tonight to gather nighttime footage, but I've decided to delay that trip until tomorrow night. The Friday night traffic on the weekend before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday might be a bit intense with a large number of people starting their holiday driving.

 

[kamkar]

Rush hour traffic have a tendency to make one anything but thankful

 

[72guy]

I am quite confident that the A139 Pro is a big step up on the DR900X, as far as image quality goes. It does not have cloud connectivity though, other than what is provided via the app, which currently is none.

Lack of cloud connectivity is what kept me from pre ordering the A139 Pro. This will be my first dashcam. Should I be looking more at the video quality of the Viofo and disregard the cloud issue. Any idea why Viofo doesn’t offer cloud service or if they have any plans to offer that feature in the future. Any idea if Dride for Viofo works as a cloud provider. Thank you.

 

[kamkar]

Welcome to the forum 72guy.

Well i have not ever tried one of the so called " smart cameras " so their additional features are always secondary to me, they also often carry a additional cost in the form of a SIM card with lots of data and possible a access point, and even the cloud storage can also get to be a expense.

The APP dride have made do indeed support other brand cameras, and also allow you to upload to their for now free service, but i think the plan of dride also are to do like most and offer a limited storage amount for free, and then a paid solution for more storage space.
Mind you you should not put everything you record in the cloud, i think dride also say this, CUZ after all a dashcam these days generate at least 200 MB every minute, that you would then have to upload, necessitating a good 4G connection under constant load, so something like that if you drive like most people do ( 1 - 2 hours daily ) well you will need a unlimited data plan i think, and those get fairly costly.
Anyway i dont think drides APP allow for automatic upload of 2 party cameras footage even if the camera do have a way to access the cloud, and for now no viofo camera have that option aside for the wifi, and you do not have free wifi anywhere

I am signed up for the dride 4K system on kickstarter, which they now say should ship next month, but as it is already about a year late i would not bet on that.
Anyway i signed up for that to be able to try one of these smart cameras, as it is after all cheaper than buying a high end thinkware or blackvue system, but to be honest i dont think the smart part are of any interest, but i am going to wholeheartedly try it.

Dride did talk a little bout the APP in their latest zoom meeting a few days ago ( as i recall towards the end of the meeting )
You can find that meeting video on their youtube channel.